22nd
Final thoughts on SNKCR 2011.
Its been a month since the completion of the National Ride and my last post. Since then I’ve had time to reflect and gather words to recap what was an amazing experience. Lots of questions have been posed to me about what was learned, what part of the country was most impressive, what was the high light, how hard was it, what were the people like…. What’s a bit surprising is as I try and answer these questions I’m unable to come up with a straightforward response. My answers are really comments on an array of thoughts and feelings. So here goes…..
This Ride served as a good reminder to be incredibly grateful for what we have (health, family, friends, we have food, fresh air and water, roof over our heads, laws, democracy, tolerant society and the greatest country on the planet). Our country is massive and has and will continue to be a destination of choice for many people throughout the world as they look to find a better place to live.
There’s room in our lives for adventure and freedom. Life presents opportunities and often there is never a good time to act. That said life goes by fast (really fast), it gets busy with a lot of stuff (some of it is important - some of it isn’t). Some of the not so important stuff prevents us from doing that which adds fun, excitement, purpose, passion and perspective. So when things become routine and comfortable it’s probably a heads up to change things up.
The battle against Cancer is as much about finding a cure as it is about making Cancer a disease that can be managed and controlled over a life time.
Genome Research plays a critical role in the battle against/treatment of cancer.
There’s alot of good being done in the world by alot of good People. For some reason our media sources tend to focus on stories about bad things and bad people.
The body can be persuaded to assume a new normal and perform at previously unknown levels and be deprived of creature comforts for sustained periods of time.
Prior to this Ride I would’ve said I liked to Ride a Bike. Now I can say I love it. Something about riding a bike brings a connection back to being a kid when riding a bike provided a sense of freedom, independence and adventure. It was something you did by yourself, with friends, it took you away from home when you needed to get away (and home again once you realized home was the best place to be), it took you to and from your first jobs (cutting lawns, delivering papers,….). Today Riding a Bike is both a pleasant reminder of some great times as a kid and away to experience the great outdoors in the company of friends.
Every part of this country was unforgettable and uniquely impressive. The desert like ranch land of the BC Interior .. Rogers Pass and snow capped peaks….stunning and beautiful Lake Louise….the expansive and rolling Prairie covered in a colour of yellow and gold….the raw, rugged and majestic coastline of Lake Superior’s north shore (it is a Great Lake!)… Ontario with it’s prosperous farmland (which we need to protect from further reckless and short sighted development), it’s scenic country roads along the historic St. Lawrence, Rideau Canal and Ottawa River (hard to believe that along this route almost 200 hundred years ago we fought the US to retain a country for ourselves) into Western Quebec past Lake of Two Mountains and countless sailboats enjoying the fall winds on an Indian summer Sunday afternoon…Montreal..Quebec City (the oldest city in North America).. the big and mighty St. Lawrence with it’s many amazing vistas…..New Brunswick provided us with a peaceful retreat through it’s rolling and winding hillsides and country roads down into the pastoral St. John River valley bordered with beautiful and brilliant autumn colours…..through Stompin Tom’s PEI (“…the spuds are big in the back of Buds rig!…”) and it’s quaint villages that populate this idyllic island (our constitutional birthplace) and whose hospitality is second to none (although it’s probably a tie with the good folks of Redvers and Piapot Saskatchewan)…to Nova Scotia and it’s beautiful sea bound coast where we road to Peggy’s Cover and honoured the memory of the Swissair disaster and to Pleasant Point in Halifax and the sight of family and friends and the powerful sounds of bagpipes….unforgettable!
No one Cause is greater than the other. There are many worthy and great Causes that require attention and support. The reality is that there is alot of need in our world and in order to address these rightful needs it requires all of us (in our own way and time) to find something that stirs us into action (i.e. volunteer, participate, fund raise, think, pray, etc…).
Being part of this event has reminded me that despite all the bad things and bad people that exist in our world there is a tremendous and overwhelming number of good people who are doing amazing and great things to help others and help our planet survive and thrive! In drawing this post to a close I wish to express my thanks to all of you who supported me with your thoughts and prayers and or donations.
To Darla, Cameron, Samantha and Graeme thank you for allowing me the time to train and participate in this journey. This journey was completed because of your support and love for those less fortunate.
To the extended Mitchell, Ritchie and Quintin family thank you - support comes in many forms and family is so important.
To Marsh thank you for your support of the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride and for the so many other important causes you support. Thank you to the many Marsh colleagues who supported me and or participated in the Inside Ride and Coins for Kids - Elisa a special call out of thanks to you for all the organizing that you put into this years effort (and previous years).
To the Insurance Industry - thank you for your donations. Our industry is community based and this is but one of a countless number of causes that you support. This experience has taught me that our industry plays a critical and vital role in sponsoring and funding causes that meet important needs in communities throughout our country and abroad.
To my friends and clients your support is humbling and very much appreciated.
To my fellow Heavy Rollers thank you for your support and countless training rides and great cottage rides!
To Jeff thank you for your vision and desire to make this event a reality. To Mike, Sharon the staff of Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation and the amazing volunteers thank you so much for making the National Ride happen and making it a truly amazing and unforgettable experience.
Finally thank you to my teammates. To Heather and Glen hard to put into words my thanks to both of you. Wow what an experience from strangers to great friends. Thanks for pulling, the laughs, great moments in the RV, on the road and in that damn trailer. Patrick thank you for being open with us in sharing Finn’s REMARKABLE life with us and your passion and vision for things to come for Team Finn. To Big Ben thanks for joining, pulling and keeping us in check (I can still hear the words “Eassssyy!”). To Robin thanks for being a part of Team 2 - your strong - keep on riding! To Ron, Tom, Patty, Bill, Damon, Ted, Francois, Terry, Dave, Brian, Blake (and your great sense of humour) THANK YOU for joining team 2 and sharing the road and yourselves and providing much needed energy and strength. A MASSIVE thank you GOES out to our AMAZING support crew Scott, Egbert, Kirk, Bob, Terri, Wayne, Jennifer, RP, Paul, Fana and Finnispiration (I half expect to see Finnispiration seated on top of an over pass as I drive to work down the Don Valley:))!
As Team Axle urges, “…..continue to Pay it Forward. Life is good; hug your kids (friends, family - aw heck even a colleague at work). Grab life by the handlebars and ride like you stole it…..”
Thank you all!
